Black Widow Oatmeal Stout | Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
The Biter is a smooth malty oatmeal stout balanced by flavors of roasted barley with chocolate malt. Gentle bittering but generous aroma is given by the popular English hop, East Kent Golding.

This gentle stout will be attractive to anyone who likes a full-flavored beer, including hard-core connoisseurs of stout.

The image was developed to symbolize the alluring, if not sinister character of the Black Widow Stout!

More User Reviews:

When I saw these guys at the Brew Review this Fall, I figured it was a matter of time before they started shipping to Minnesota...some sixers showed up this week.

Black, lets some light in at the bottom...cream-like 1/8 inch head. Sweet aromas. Pretty good balance of malt flavors, semi-sweet chocolate with a little run at a roasty flavor that's short of coffee. Body could be a little fuller, a little warbly and tea-like, but carbonation is well done (neither flat nor spritzy). Minimal hops as appropriate. Decent Stout, could be a little more broad in its approach in this style, kind of forgetable.

Quote from the label: "...brewed with the finest hops & malted grains with only a hint of spider". The spider didn't show up in the taste, but may have explained the lace web left down the glass.

Amazing brew. Pours a very deep amber (who I am kidding..this black by most standards). Aroma is big and roasty.
Likewise, big roasty, oaty flavors. Lots of coffee and milk chocolate (this actually might be two separate flavors, dark chocolate and lactose sweetness). Hops add just the right amount of bitterness.
The carbonation levels may be just slightly too high...detracts a little from the smoothness. This is a minor complaint. Still very nice in the mouth.
Makes you want another...leaves a wonderful roasted coffee flavor filling the mouth. This aftertaste is almost as good as the beer itself.
One of the best oatmeal stouts I have tried. Snap it up if you can find it...good luck. Worth searching for.

Aroma is coffee, cream and mild chocolate. Pours dark brown but approaches full black int he glass. Head is a mostly diminishing creamy tan affair. Fore is acidic and bitter with lots of coffee and roasted malt notes. Middle gets a bit tinny/metallic tasting. You definitely taste a little oatmeal influence along with some sweetened condensed milk flavors and a touch of nuttiness.

A - A loud, tall pour doesn't do this beer any favors. The head is low and retained poorly leaving only a thin film behind. The vigorous swirl coaxes some tan froth out. Black Widow is almost black with slivers of clear brown-amber around the edges.

S - Black Widow's aroma is void of any hints of spider like the label suggests (whew). What it does have however, is a rich roasted malt nose with a good depth to it. Cocoa and molasses hints with a nice oat presence. At first, an now on the swirl, the nose is pretty solid but after sitting, Black Widow gets this old, musty smell. It's not entirely off-putting since it's relatively low, it's just a nuisance. Low hop presence is slight grassy and lingers in the background. Very roasted nose overall.

T - Heavily roasted flavor is prominent with classic backing notes of coffee, cocoa, and molasses. Not a lot of the oats come out in the flavor as much as the mouthfeel. The roasted bitter finish balances pretty nicely with at thin backing of hop presence. The flavor has a bit of depth to it but lacks any real distinctiveness.

M - This beer is surprisingly thin in the texture which is too bad. I'd really call this medium-bodied as there is plenty of carbonation for a crisp, lighter feel on the finish. The oats do smooth the texture of the beer out though. A lingering dusty dryness and roasted bitterness finish it out. This could really be brought up to be thicket and more substantial here.

D - While Black Widow is well-balanced for drinkability, it could help in other areas to make it a better beer all-around. It's just lacking a distinct spark of something. It doesn't stand out in a community of malt-bomb-loving beer drinkers.

I know that this is an "aged" version of this brew, but I have notes dating back 3 years and all have "sour" flavors. If Black Widow had a little bit more body and could pinpoint and get rid of the slight off flavor then this would be a very nice brew.

You forget about these session stouts when youre used to drinking RIS or double stouts. Dark with red hints with roasted maltiness on the nose. This is real tasty and easy to drink- nothing mind blowing but thats ok. Pleasant sweetness with subtle chocolate and toffee. Few brewers make such an easy stout and this reminds me to drink more oatmeal stouts. Thanks to Gclarkage.

appearance: The pour creates a .25" light mocha head that steadily recedes to a ring around the glass. The beer is a very dark brown in color.

smell: Moderate aromas of roasted malt and milk chocolate. Light hoppiness. There's also a considerable off sour note to the aroma.

mouthfeel: The carbonation is towards the higher side of the medium range, and the body a light medium. The carbonation is a little high, and I'm not getting the smoothness I would normally expect in an oatmeal stout.

taste: At first my tastebuds pick up on some roasted malt, and then BAM...my mouth is assaulted with an offensive sourness. It pretty much dominates the flavor, though a little roast peeks through the onslaught. The sourness lingers for a solid thirty seconds after the sip.

The beer after disassociating itself from the 12 ounce brown bottle pours a very deep black walnut color with some ruby high lights, the head is modest in size, frothy in texture and the color a light chocolate, as it evaporates the lace forms a fine sheet to conceal the glass. Nose is heavy with toasted grains, sweet and fresh, the start is sweet, and the malt profile adequate, the top is light to middling in feel. Finish is prickly in its acidity, the hops apparent but not overstated, somewhat dry and sweet aftertaste, a light but drinkable stout.

Thanks to hopdog for this...
Appears a dark brown borderline black with a small tan head that fades into a small head and leaves scattered lace.
Smell is of a sweet, lacto sugar, oatmeal, and black patent concoction.
Taste is of the same aromas with that lacto sugar jumping out and an almost vinous like taste lingering.
Mouthfeel is smooth and sweet with a small amount of bitterness coming through.

Musty oats with a little chocolate malt and something similar to licorice (who knows? maybe the "hint of spider" as the label says).

A little chocolate flavor, and an unexpected sourness which is initially unwelcome, but eventually brings out a little dark fruit quality in the beer (initially, I was thinking I got a back bottle until I read previous reviews all mentioning the sour flavor). There's also sort of a stale bread quality along with a residual bitterness.

Mouthfeel needs work, especially given this is an OATMEAL stout. Thin and over-carbonated in the soda manner.

Through the first half of this beer, the review was shaping up to be pretty harsh, but it improved considerably as the beer warmed and as the taste buds acclimated to the sour flavor. Even the texture seemed a little fuller (still not good). Eventually I actually started liking this. Let her sit out and get warm - she's got carbonation to spare and the flavor will improve noticeably.

This one pours a solid black with an espresso-ish head. Very pleasant aroma: dusty chocolates and a bit of coffee, with a hint of sour fruits underneath. On the palate, though, the coffee and other malty flavors take a back seat to a big, ugly sourness that dominates to the finish. Once the finish comes, there are some bitter coffee flavors hinted at in the nose, but until then that sourness is oppressive. Not what I expect or want in an oatmeal stout. Mouthfeel is thin and lacks that oatmeal stout slickness.

All around, this beer is not too pleasant to drink. Not the best effort here.

I was given a bottle of this beer from a friend of mine, I don't know how old it is or anything about it really. it pours nice and dark, with almost no head.

On to the taste! Someone else said they had a bottle they thought was mishandled and was very sour. I too have a very sour beer, I would say the sourness is right up there with a Flanders Red. I love Flanders Reds, and I like stouts too. I also love lobster and popcorn, but I'm not going to mix the two together. I don't know if every bottle is like this, so I don't want to be too hard on this beer but I have to say this is in the top 5 worst beers I've ever had.